In 2023, TRAID has committed £24,703 to fund a new project in Matuail, Dhaka, Bangladesh in partnership with the NGO Grambangla. This project will provide education scholarships for 60 vulnerable girls to learn sewing and tailoring skills to build a life away from working as waste pickers on landfill sites.
On the landfill sites of Matuail, Dhaka, Bangladesh, the role of a waste picker is a dangerous line of work. These sites are the grounds for rubbish arriving from the city and a means of income for many poor families. Waste pickers sort through the hazardous environment to collect objects such as cow horns, metal, glass, and plastics which they go on to sell by weight and type to earn a living.
Life-changing and fatal accidents can occur in this environment, from the unsanitary conditions to the large operating vehicles moving about to crush and compact waste on the ground. However, for young children this work is a means of income to support their families, whose parents are often waste pickers themselves.
The important work of Grambangla aims to support these vulnerable girls to build a life away from waste picking on landfill sites. Young girls under the guidance of this project will be supported to obtain educational scholarships and transition into safer and higher wage work.
Girls at the training centre learning how to sew.
The project will provide a complete experience from education to employment for 60 young girls aged 14-17 years old. Each girl will be granted vocational scholarships in tailoring and sewing and receive six months of training at the Grambangla Technical Training Centre. As well as developing their skills, the girls are provided with a nutritious meal to ensure their wider wellbeing is also cared for.
Upon completing their training, the girls are then supported through the programme into employment and typically go from earning £30 per month from waste picking, to over £70 per month from safer employment and working conditions.
Group training where girls are taught technical skills in tailoring and sewing.
The work of Grambangla in the wider scope, aims to build a world where every person enjoys their right to a life with dignity. Find out about Grambangla’s other projects here. We are proud to support Grambangla’s work to provide young girls in Bangladesh the chance to move into safer working conditions and learn practical skills that will improve their future livelihoods and wellbeing.
